Chapter Eight

One moment we were flirting with each other, teasing each other, and betting who could get the other more jealous; next he is being sweet in Math and putting his reputation on the line to sit next to me, and then he takes a complete 360 and says he wants nothing to do with me and basically rejects me.

Here I thought women were meant to be the completely crazy, hormonal ones.

My headphones were blaring music in my ears, blocking out all possible thoughts and on the off-chance Zane reaches into my mind, he will be greeted with some fuck you music.

I was drawing in my notebook, or scribbling as Blake calls it. Some habits you just can’t break. The English teacher wasn’t even trying to get my attention; she gave up at the start of the class, but seeing as it was a free period, and everyone was doing whatever they liked, she wasn’t even bothered by me having my phone out and listening to music.

Zane was at the back of the classroom, next to Taylor. Three days had passed since he pretty much rejected me. Each day, he had ignored me, which didn’t sting as much as I expected because I wasn’t going to be a wimpy little wolf about it.

It is amazing what you can convince yourself of. I had kept chanting in my head, I hate Zane, I hate Zane, and it really helped for the first two days, but then my hurt spilled its guts on the third night. I cried for a solid three hours.

My head still slightly ached from the headache I had last night. Yep, I had cried that much.

So today was day four, and so far, it was going ok. I hadn’t broken out in tears, and I hadn’t killed him or charged at him. So, all in all it was a good day, but I knew that was soon going to change because tonight was a pack meeting which meant I would have to go to his house. Terror filled my blood when I thought about it.

“Hey, Allie!” someone called for my attention.

Slowly, I looked over my shoulder to see Taylor leaning over his desk, with a grin on his face. Had he hit his head or something? What gave him the impression he could speak to me?”

“Taylor?” I arched an eyebrow with a weary expression and removed the earphones.

“Mom told me you were coming over for dinner.” Taylor struck up a conversation with me as if we were friends. Zane, however, was sitting still next to him, like dead still - it was scary. Nearly as scary as that angry expression on his face.

“I’m not going.” Mom could ask and nag me all she wanted, but nothing would get me walking into Taylor’s house willingly.

Taylor got up from his chair, and I was in complete horror when he slumped in the chair next to me.

“Are you lost? Or did you hit your head?” I looked at him stunned.

“Come on, Allie, don’t be like that.” He had the stomach to smirk at me.

“Are you flirting with me?” I was mildly disgusted by the idea, and instantly I edged further away from him.

“Oh, sweet cheeks, don’t you wish.”

“I don’t believe in wishing.”

“Fine, sweet cheeks, in your dreams then.”

 “Perhaps in my nightmares.”

“Hey, either way, sweet cheeks, you would be thinking of me.”

“Call me sweet cheeks one more time, and I’ll give you a swollen cheek.”

“I love it when you get dirty.”

“I mean it, Taylor.” I raised a finger warning him. “I’m not against hitting girls.”

“I know, I saw you take on Ebony.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me. “I do love a bit of girl on girl.”

“That’s it, what side do you want it?”

“Calm down, Allie.” He raised both hands. “Before someone thinks you have an anger management problem.”

“Is there a point to you being here and annoying me?” I snapped at him as he was making my blood pressure rise and I was too young for a heart attack. “Hurry up, you’re giving me chest pains.”

“I do have that effect on women.”

I left myself wide open for that one. “Get to the point, Taylor,” I growled.

“Has your mom given you the speech yet?” He seemed to be heading towards a reason of why he was here.

“You mean their idea that you and I are…” I swallowed sharply. “Mates?”

He even scrunched his nose up at the word. “Yeah, that.”

Mom was on the right track as I did have a jerk for a mate. It just wasn’t this jerk.

“So, what? We both know it isn’t true.” I snuck a glance at Zane. He was playing on his phone, pretending he wasn’t listening to our conversation.

“Well, they don’t know that. Hell, I think in their world we are mates.” He looked disgusted at the idea. At least that feeling of disgust was shared.

“So, what is your point?”

“I have a dream you see.” He changed the subject completely, which made me wonder about his state of mind. Perhaps he suffered from short-term memory loss.

“That’s nice.”

“In this dream, my car is all fixed up, and I score woman after woman.” His face twisted with desire.

“Ok stop, I don’t want to hear any more.”

“But you see this dream isn’t going to come true until I have my car, which my mom won’t buy until I admit you are my mate.”

“You have to be kidding me.” I gave him the blankest expression I could muster.

“Come on, Allie, we only have to pretend until I get my car and then heck we can tell them it was a joke.”

“No.”

“Allie.”

“NO!” I hissed at him. “Not to point out the flaws in your plan, but she would just take the car away from you when she finds out we lied.”

“But for her to take it away from me, she would have to have the chance, which isn’t going to happen.”

“It’s still a no.”

“Come on, surely, there is something you can get out of your mom too.”

“I want for nothing.”

“Really?” He arched an eyebrow and leaned in closer to me. “Because I think you need a good banging. I’m more than willing to offer my services.”

“I’m more than willing to remove your manhood. Save the female population from bad sex.” I smirked when I saw the hurt dash across his face.

“Come on, Allie, just…” He groaned. “Fine, what do you want?”

“Nothing.”

“So, you will do it for nothing?” He was hoping, and you know what they say, don’t get your hopes up.

“I’m not doing it.”

“Come on, we’re friends.”

I couldn’t believe he had just said that. “Friends? Really.” I honestly couldn’t believe he had actually uttered those words to me.

“Allie, please, I really need this.”

Taylor was begging, literally begging me for help. I can’t believe I was even thinking about it. The only reason I was even giving it thought was because of Zane. I knew it was a low move, but it wouldn’t really kill him to be jealous - perhaps he would re-think this crazy idea of his.

I chewed my bottom lip, and apparently, that was all Taylor needed to see.

“You’re thinking about it.” He grinned. “Come on, Allie, I’ll owe you one.”

Seeing Zane jealous was all I needed. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

I heard a pen snap from Zane’s direction. Like I had expected he was listening. “So, um, how are we going to pull this off?” I asked Taylor. Truly it was going to be hard to be around him, without wanting to kill him or choke the life out of him.

“Well, tonight we will break the news, you know, act all nervous about telling them.” He seemed to have given this some thought. “Then when I have the keys in my hand, and all is settled, we can rip the rug from under them and slap the truth in their face.”

Mom and Dianne deserved this when you really think about it, as they had been asking for it the way they have been acting and gossiping like school children.

“So, we’re meant to be having tea before the pack meeting?” I frowned. There was no way mom and Dianne wouldn’t blow that news all over the pack meeting. “You know they will tell everyone?”

“So.” He shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing. “I don’t care what people will think, and, well, you clearly don’t care what people think.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I gave him a warning look.

“It’s a good thing.” He patted my leg, causing me to punch his arm.

“Don’t touch me.”

“That rule will have to go out the window if this is going to work. Mates are all over each other like a rash.”

“We will definitely be toning that down then.” Sure, my main reason was to make Zane jealous, but that didn’t mean I was willing to catch a disease.

“Fine, I’ll ease it back, but only if you put some effort into yourself.” He glanced me up and down. “Come on, Allie, you’re with me now. You can’t wear that around as you will murder my reputation.”

“What is wrong with a hoodie and jeans?”

“They don’t show skin or curves and that is what is wrong.”

“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes at him.

“So tonight, when you come over I expect hotness.” He got up, shooting me a wink.

“You better start moving, Taylor, before I re-think this idea,” I warned him, as he retreated to his seat.

I had just made a deal with the devil. I was more than sure I would regret it.